As for the rest of the tribes …: God described the allocation of land to seven of the tribes of Israel in verses 1-7. Here he picks up the description of the allocation of land to the other five tribes, namely, Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad. The way God describes the allocation of their land is exactly the same as in verses 1-7; see the comments there for Adjoining the territory of and from the east side to the west. A model that combines verses 23-27 is:

• “The land of the remaining tribes will be south of the special section. The territory for each tribe will extend across the country from east to west. From the special section to the south will be the territories of Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

These shall be the exits of the city: Most translations take this clause to refer to the “gates” (Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version) or “entrances” (Good News Translation) of the city, even though the measurements that follow don’t fit well in a paragraph about gates. Therefore some scholars have suggested that the Hebrew term for exits should be understood to mean the “outskirts,” “outer limits,” or “outside borders” (New Century Version) of the city. The Hebrew word literally means “goings out” (King James Version), so it could refer to the openings through which people go out, or to the points to which the city itself goes out, that is, its external limits. If translators follow the second alternative, this clause may be rendered “The outside of the city will be/look like this.” Both interpretations are acceptable. Several translations render this clause in a helpful way, saying “There are twelve entrances to the city of Jerusalem” (Good News Translation) or “The city has twelve entrances.”

On the north side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure: God first gives the measurement of the city wall on the north side. The wall will be four thousand five hundred cubits, that is, about 2,250 meters (2,500 yards), long. This is the same figure used in verse 16. The Hebrew word for by measure may refer to the measuring reed used by the angelic guide in chapter 40, so a possible model for this clause is “The north wall will be 2,250 meters long according to the measuring stick used by the angel.” However, it is more likely that by measure does little more than reinforce the measurement of the wall, so a better model is “The measurement of the north wall will be 2,250 meters” or simply “The north wall will be 2,250 meters long.” In verses 32-34 the clause which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits is used three more times to describe the length of the other three walls. In some languages such repetition may be acceptable, but in others it will be best to bring together this description of all four walls into one sentence, for example, “Each of the four walls measures 2,520 yards” (Good News Translation), “Each side of the city wall will be a mile and half long” (Contemporary English Version), and “the four sides each measure just under one-and-a-half [miles]” (Complete Jewish Bible). If translators choose this option, it is also a good idea to place this clause at the end of verses 30-34, so that it can be joined closely to the measurement of the circumference of the city in verse 35 (so Contemporary English Version with “Each side of the city wall will be a mile and a half long, 35 and so the total length of the wall will be six miles”). Alternatively, it can be placed near the beginning of these verses, as Good News Translation does.

In each of the four walls of the city will be three gates, so there will be twelve gates in all. God describes these gates by focusing on each wall in succession and naming the three gates in one wall before going on to the next wall. This results in quite a long description of the gates. It may be clearer if translators specifically mention the total number of gates before describing each separate wall (so Contemporary English Version with “The city of Jerusalem will have twelve gates, three on each of the four sides of the city wall”). For city gates, see 38.11.

The gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel may be rendered “These gates will be named after the twelve tribes of Israel” (Contemporary English Version). God lists the names of the gates of the north, east, south, and west walls in turn. The twelve tribal names include all the actual sons of Jacob, including Levi. This is different from the names of the tribes to whom land will be allocated (see verses 1-7 and 23-27), where Levi was left out and Joseph’s tribe was divided into two and received two portions (compare 47.13). Translators need to be careful not to confuse the two lists. When listing the names of the gates, God proceeds in a clockwise direction (that is, north, east, south, west), but there is no way of knowing the order of the gates in each of the walls from this listing. Some scholars assume that they, too, go from left to right, but since Hebrew is written from right to left, it is reasonable to assume that the names of the gates actually go in that direction. But the actual direction depends also on God’s point of view: was he inside or outside the city when he described the gates? For those languages that need to make a decision on this, it is best to assume that he was describing the order of the gates from outside, and the names go from right to left. For most languages, unless they wish to include a diagram of the gates in their Bibles, the order of the gates will not be an issue. One way to translate this naming of the gates is:

• The gates will be named after the twelve tribes of Israel. The three on the north will be Reuben, Judah and Levi; the ones on the east will be Joseph, Benjamin and Dan; on the south the gates will be Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun; and on the west they will be Gad, Asher and Naphtali.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .